Dating abbreviations

Meredith collects data to deliver the best content, services, and personalized digital ads. We partner with third party advertisers, who may use tracking technologies to collect information about your activity on sites and applications across devices, both on our sites and across the Internet. Interpreting Star Model Numbers Model names are all too frequently a source of confusion for Star pistols. Especially for the older pistols, there are just dating abbreviations few tips you need to know to almost always find the correct model of your gun.

First of all, there is simply no such thing as a model SA, or S. The right place to find all older Star pistol model numbers is on the butt, as seen in the illustrations below and photo to the right. On the flat plate on the bottom of the gun, just rear of where the magazine is inserted, look for a letter, set of letters or a word. If there is letter code, the first letter is always what I call the series. Note that most series also have variants that are not differentiated by a letter code change. I and N mean a caliber change from the basic version, S means that they are updated to include a magazine safety and K means an aluminum frame. Just to add more trouble, some pistols will simply be marked “Super,” with no letter codes.

I know of the Super designation appearing alone on model A and B pistols, but it can be on others as well. Use caliber and other details of the gun to determine your model if this is the case. Some older pistols will have no model number on the butt. This used to be rare, but is increasingly common as old stocks are cleared out. These are all the year coded, Spanish government issue pistols, like the Model 1922 and Model 1940. Some will clearly be these, as they will carry appropriate crests, or military acceptance stamps.

Some will simply need to be identified by looking at photos. The chart to the right delineates the differences between some of the more confusingly similar pistols, and what I know of some of the suffix codes. Suffix codes are changes to the base gun. Some are not at all clear, but the ones I know are listed here. Another confusion comes up sometimes in caliber markings being confused with weapon names. Patronen ’08 is a way of saying “the cartridges that fit in the model 1908 pistol.

The Pistol ’08 is the Luger, and more recently the cartridge that fits it is called the 9 mm Luger, or Parabellum. Up thru the 50s at least, a number of Stars in 9 mm had the chamber hoods stamped P’08 or something similar. This is just a caliber notation. Modern pistols Newer pistols have a model name or number, sometimes with a type suffix, clearly on the sides of the gun.

Some pistols will have no model number listed. The Megastar, for example, is the Model 50, but is invariably sold as the “Model Megastar. All the modern pistols have model numbers instead of letters, starting with 28. I have no idea what happened to the first 27 or to many of the numbers in between. Some are clearly also just chosen for marketing needs, like the .

Some also have other apparent meanings. The Firestar Plus is the M243, where adding 200 to the M43 must mean “super version” or something to the Star engineering department. Some of the modern pistols also use variant designators. 31 series, and are always used. There is no “base” Model 30.

Sometimes, these are not used, so the model number for the Firestar Plus has no K suffix, to designate that it is alloy framed. Once you find the model, you can look up which series it is in and go to the relevant page on the table here. Importers Marks I get asked a lot about marks that end up being import marks. Weapons made outside the US must be imported, and stamped with the importer company name and location. I am sure other countries have similar regulations. Import stamps are usually not going to match, many will even be non-straight or will not have been finished over.

Magnum Research has always been an importer, as their primary product line is actually made in Israel. Especially because of the large number of Star pistols imported as surplus, import marks are almost always of no value when trying to identify the gun. If you are trying to buy one, they can be useful, as many people will post the gun for sale as being made by Interarms, and so on. Have something to ask or share? Wikimedia Commons has media related to Latin words and phrases. The main article for this category is List of Latin phrases. Subcategories This category has the following 16 subcategories, out of 16 total.